Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: 2021/01 Winter

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For 125 years, the historic Episcopal Church of the Incarnation has been watching over Main Street, delighting passerbyes with its Carpenter Gothic architecture and lovely garden spaces.

But over the years as the beloved structure was enlarged and buildings added, the presentation of the building to Main Street had become confusing multiple staircases distracted from an open and welcoming space and the Church lacked a central front door to welcome visitors and friends.

And as the Church and the community grew and attendance swelled, the need to expand the capacity of the Sanctuary became more pressing.

Three years ago, Reverend Bentley Manning and the Vestry at Incarnation identified the need to enhance the facility and expand the seating in the sanctuary. Then, in 2018 a parish family offered a generous donation for the development of a master plan resulting in a capital campaign, entitled Glorious Vision with a $6,000,000 goal. An Architectural Committee appointed by the Vestry, began work on a unified plan.

The scope of the project is three-fold:

To illuminate the vision of God given in Christ through the beauty of worship where our hearts are lifted heavenward with the configuration of architectural elements to create a more sacred atmosphere, literally opening our doors to the community with the creation of a formal entry into the Sanctuary, adding windows to the new entry and the rear of the Sanctuary, allowing the worship space to be washed in light. At the same time, painters, blacksmiths and wood carvers are working to fill the Sanctuary with beauty.

To Invite: By modifying the interior of our Sanctuary so that we may accommodate more persons in worship, adding 70 to 80 seats to avoid the need for overflow spaces, making the entire campus ADA compliant, and updating lamps and windows for more energy efficiency because caring for creation is important to us. A new spire holding four cast iron bells will be erected as a beacon of Gods Sanctuary and welcome and a call to worship.

To inspire: We will share this vision of God in our ministries, our outreach, our educational offerings, and through lives transformed by Christ.

Reverend Manning recognizes that, Now more than ever, theres a need to be together in community and in worship and fellowship; something we perhaps once took for granted.

He is grateful for the timing that has allowed this project to be undertaken and expressed his thank you to Highlanders and visitors for their grace and fortitude during the construction.

While work is under way the original chapel remains open. For more information or to contribute, visit gloriousvision.org.

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Glorious Vision: The Episcopal Church of the Incarnation | Highlands NC - The Laurel Magazine of Highlands NC and Cashiers NC

LAURENS. S.C. Regan Freeman had spent more than a year organizing a project to tell the story of a Black South Carolina pastor who reached out to Ku Klux Klan members who wanted him dead because of his race.

Freeman thought he knew the story well. Then came a tweet that led to two gray storage tubs of some of the most racist newspapers, flyers, posters, photographs and other material he had ever seen.

That brought Rev. David Kennedy's struggles as well as his patience, love and caring for all men even those with evil in their hearts into sharper focus for Freeman, who is working to turn what was once a store filled with racist merchandise into a diversity center and museum on racial reconciliation.

Courtesy The Echo Project

Freeman was born three months after the Redneck Shop and World's Only Klan Museum, adorned with Confederate flags and a swastika on a back wall, opened in 1996 in Laurens. He has raised more than $300,000 to renovate the historic Echo Theater, which was a segregated movie theater before housing the shop and a large meeting hall where dozens of hooded Klan members met in the back.

Freeman wants to collect the stories of Black people around Laurens whose ancestors struggled through slavery and segregation and maybe take on other projects like putting up historical markers at the site of each of the more than 150 known lynchings of Black people in the state.

There are so many stories out there that haven't been told or we haven't told completely," Freeman said.

And that led him to those gray plastic tubs.

In October, he replied to a tweet by a woman who now owns the land where Redneck Shop owner John Howard lived letting the Southern Poverty Law Center know she had a ton of his stuff.

The woman didn't respond, so Freeman drove up himself and after a unannounced visit, some negotiation and $500, he had decades of stuff marking Howard's racist life.

There are negatives of cross burnings. Posters of Adolph Hitler. A Klan Rally Instructions manual. A flyer called A Boat Ticket To Africa with horribly offensive Black caricatures and stereotypes. A business card Klan members would leave to intimidate Black families that said this was a social visit and don't make the next visit a business call."

This stuff isn't from 100 years ago. Some of it is maybe from the last decade or two," Freeman said. I think it is important to see it and see how deep this hate goes so you can see why we need to fight so hard to change."

Freeman plans to have historians at the University of South Carolina help him look through the items with an eye toward preservation and display the ones that best tell a story in exhibits at the theater.

A Klan member named Michael Burden, who was once considering killing Kennedy, sold the theater to the pastor in 1997 after Kennedy helped him out when he and Howard had a falling out. But Burden's deal let Howard keep leasing the theater for the Redneck Shop. Kennedy finally won a 15-year court fight and shut the shop down. The story became the movie Burden released earlier this year.

Now Freeman is leading the project to turn the old theater into Kennedy's dream of a community center where racial reconciliation and harmony is at the forefront.

We're hoping The Echo Project will become a place where every race could be respected a place where diversity is not only just talked about, but is celebrated through action," Kennedy said.

Freeman grew up in nearby Clinton, and while at the University of South Carolina, felt pulled to talk to Kennedy about his work. Kennedy asked him to lead the project and Freeman gave up a law firm job for his new calling.

This is a chance to tell a great story, Freeman said.

An architect and construction firm have been chosen, with work starting soon, and Freeman plans to relaunch the Echo Projects website to expand its reach.

To be a part of a project that can use architecture and inflict change at the same time is huge for me," MOA Architecture Founder Michael Allen said.

The first bit of work for the companies? Scraping off a Confederate flag sticker on the marquee for decades and replacing it with the project's name and website.

It needs to be the opposite of a dilapidated old building that stands as a shrine to hatred," said David Walker, manager for the project for Sodexos Construction and Infrastructure Services.

___

Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.

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Work Begins To Turn SC Racist Store Into Racial Harmony Site - WFAE

In his closing remarks during the October 2019 Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson invited members of the church to prepare for 2020.

Nelson said: General conference next April will be different from any previous conference... I hope that every member and every family will prepare for a unique conference that will commemorate the very foundation of the restored gospel.

He was referring to the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Joseph Smiths First Vision wherein he testifies he saw God, the Father and Jesus Christ, his Son.

While Nelson said he had no notion that a worldwide pandemic would add to the unique conference, but it most certainly did. And, for the LDS Church, it was a unique year.

While the world has become familiar with people and activities being quarantined, closed or postponed, 2020 was anything but paused for the LDS Church.

Rather than slowed or halted, many of the church activities were accelerated.

New branding

In order for us to get through the pandemic and other chaos is the world, Nelson said members needed to pause and understand how an individual, personally hears their maker.

A new initiative by the church to help members recognize how they receive personal revelation, how they #HearHim, was introduced during the April Conference. Members were invited to take time to listen and develop a closer relationship with deity in 2020.

The April General Conference, for the first time, was held remotely, via several media platforms, due to COVID-19 restrictions. The Conference Center was closed and leadership meetings postponed.

With the worldwide pandemic still rampant in October, the fall Semiannual General Conference was also held remotely.

After mid-March The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, Orchestra at Temple Square and other performing groups were put on hiatus and prerecorded music by the choir was used for meetings and celebrations including the First Presidencys 2020 Christmas Devotional in December and the weekly broadcasts of Music and the spoken word.

Nelson also introduced a new symbol or logo for the church. This new symbol, a drawing of the Christus statue in an enclosed archway, is a continuation of the effort Nelson felt inspired to initiate in August 2018 to focus on the Churchs divinely revealed name.

Since that time, he said, the churchs leaders, departments, related entities, main website, members and many others now use the correct name of the Church.

We have gone to these extraordinary efforts because when we remove the Lords name from the name of His Church, we inadvertently remove Him as the central focus of our worship and our lives, Nelson said.

In-home church

The focus of worship for the church started changing in January 2019 when the church instigated a new home centered, church supported study program titled Come Follow Me.

Weekly worship in chapels came to a temporary halt in March, but the faiths culture of home-centered gospel study helped Latter-day Saints more easily adapt to worship and scripture study from home.

By summer, LDS Wards and Stakes were able to meet on a limited basis with portions of the meetings being available to watch at home via Zoom and by other media support.

That still continues as of the end of 2020.

It was the sacred ordinance of the Sacrament that became a major focal point for members of the church as they were able to have priesthood holders, either in the family or church representatives, provide the service in their homes. The experiences shared show members have developed a great appreciation for the Sacrament and what it represents in their lives.

Humanitarian aid

In January, with a global pandemic at her doorstep, Sister Sharon Eubank, director of Latter-day Saint Charities, and first counselor of the General Relief Society Presidency and her team started planning on how they could respond to basically everyones needs.

This is the first time responding to a global event, Eubank said. Everybody in the whole world is being affected.

Typically, Latter-day Saint Charities responds to individual disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, typhoons and volcanoes.

Never have those charities had to respond to the entire world at once, and Eubank said they had to look at the issue with a whole new set of eyes.

Perhaps the biggest question for Eubank was: How do you respond to, organize and assign and direct a global event from your living room? She has been required to work from home for the most part.

Eubank said there are 20 members of her team at church headquarters in Salt Lake City and they meet daily.

We are looking at technology to see what we can do, Eubank said. Its forcing us to do things in different ways.

Throughout the world, the church is divided into areas with General Authority Seventies over each area. They also have teams representing Latter-day Saint Charities that work with those leaders in each area of the world and report to Eubank.

Were giving 147% or more, Eubank said. There is nothing more pressing.

Throughout 2020, the LDS Church has donated cash and commodities to support more than 1,000 COVID-19 relief efforts around the globe this includes partnerships with Convoy of Hope, Feeding America, Partnership with Native Americans, the Salvation Army, the United Way and the World Food Programme.

Food donations also increased and were distributed nationwide in the United States. The church also responded to many natural disasters around the world, including wildfires in the western United States, hurricanes in the southern United States and Central America, and typhoons in the Philippines.

Part of the miracle that made all of this happen was the volunteer service by members rendered in all the locations and in activities such as making five million face masks and the canning the bumper crop of vegetables and fruit that gave the church a surplus of products in their storehouses and the ability to share more.

Temples

Perhaps one of, if not the hardest thing Nelson said he had to do was shut down 162 temples. These are considered the most important buildings in the church, they are called The House of the Lord.

Temples closed for a few months before a cautious and careful phased reopening began in May around the world. Temples are still in a phased reopening and are still unable to completely open as of Dec. 30.

Even with temples closed, temple work continued, not only with members doing family history, but with 21 temple groundbreaking ceremonies including one in September for the new Orem temple.

Nelson also announced the future construction of 14 more temples including new houses of the Lord in the United Arab Emirates and in Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China.

Adjustments to the temple ceremonies and temple clothing were also announced.

On Jan. 1, the Salt Lake Temple began a 4-year renovation, restoration and seismic fitting. The St. George Temple was already in process. The church announced it would be upgrading all of its legacy temples including Manti and Logan Temples in the future.

It appears that new temples no longer have the iconic Angel Moroni on the temple main spire throughout the world. The focus is not Moroni but on the purpose of the building, to bring all to Christ through sacred covenants.

In October, Nelson announced that Lindon Utah would also get new temple. Its location was announced just before Christmas at 800 East and Center Street.

Missionaries

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most missionaries were called back to their home countries in April, or asked to spend more time in isolation, but missionaries continue to share messages of Jesus Christ online.

Many missionaries whove temporarily returned home from their service due to the COVID-19 pandemic, faced a unique decision this spring.

In a letter from church leadership sent to missionaries on March 31, they learned that they had until Thursday, April 30, to decide between two options for resuming their missions.

The first option was to resume their missions as soon as conditions allow, with their original assignment or a temporary one, the letter says. The second option was to resume their missions during a set time window, within 12 to 18 months.

Those who return as soon as possible would keep their original release-from-service date, while those who return to service within 12 to 18 months would receive a new one.

Similar options were offered to missionaries who had received mission calls or completed online missionary training, the letter read.

Mission assignments, whether original or temporary, would be determined by the churchs Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, according to the letter.

In the meantime, the Provo Missionary Training Centers and other were closed and newly called missionaries were to study and train online at home.

As of the end of 2020, missionaries are still in transition and the Provo MTC is still closed.

Of note

Many other things took place during the year.

Before COVID-19 put a pause on global travel, several Apostles made in-person visits with Latter-day Saints and civic leaders in several places.

Elder David A. Bednar became the first Apostle to visit the African nation of Sudan, Elder Quentin L. Cook visited the Philippines, Elder Ulisses Soares traveled to Costa Rica and Guatemala, and Elder Ronald A. Rasband made a stop in South Africa. Other leaders made visits closer to home. President Dallin H. Oaks spoke to youth around the world in a broadcast originating from Temple Square, President Henry B. Eyring ministered in Idaho, President M. Russell Ballard spoke to students at Brigham Young University, and Elder D. Todd Christofferson visited New York.

The ministry has continued apace during COVID-19. From President Nelsons video message at the beginning of the pandemic to the First Presidencys Christmas devotional, Apostles have shared many digital messages with Latter-day Saints and others around the world.

Elder Bednar spoke at a religious freedom conference and at the G20 Interfaith Forum, according to church information.

The LDS Church made several adjustments and additions to the General Handbook and the handbook itself is now online and available to the public. Recent additions included sections on transgender members, clarifications on the Word of Wisdom, and a variety of other topics.

It was announced that in 2021 the entire handbook would be updated.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2021 the church would have three updated church magazines for adults, teens and children. The Liahona will be a worldwide edition for adults, For the Strength of Youth will be the teen magazine, and the updated Friend will serve children of the Primary.

A surprised music committee continued going through the thousands of hymn and prose entries for a new Hymnbook and Childrens Song Book that was previously announced and was hoping to be completed by the end of the year. That has not been put off with no publication date announced.

Originally posted here:
LDS Church keeps fast pace through pandemic of 2020 - Daily Herald

From reports by EYN staff

In skeletal information reaching us from Garkida, three churches were set ablaze, five people killed, and five people are missing in a Boko Haram attack, reported Zakariya Musa, head of media for Ekklesiyar Yanuwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria). Garkida, a town in the Gombi Local Government Area of Adamawa State in northeast Nigeria, is the site of the founding of EYN and the place where the former Church of the Brethren mission in Nigeria began.

According to church officials the attackers invaded Garkida on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, Musa reported, burning several churches including EYN Ghung, EYN Sangere, and Living Faith Church Garkida. The Living faith Church was rebuilt after the Feb. 21 attack on Garkida when four churches were destroyed in similar attack, he wrote. The church said they spent Christmas Eve in the bush and that some houses were selectively burned. Also burned were road construction facilities on the Biu Road.

In another Christmas Eve attack, Pemi village was stormed by Boko Haram, Musa reported. According to church officials, seven people were killed, an EYN church and many houses were burnt, and one evangelist named Bulus Yakura was abducted. A church official who spoke on the phone from Mbalala in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State, who was in the village the following morning on Dec. 25 for assessment, said people have fled Pemi village for their life. Many villagers in the areas of attack abandoned their villages on Christmas Eve after finishing all preparations for Christmas.

At least three more communities along the Biu Road were attacked the day after Christmas, Dec. 26. Musa reported: Three more churches and many houses are destroyed at Tashan Alade, Kirbitu, and Debiro towns. The destroyed churches include churches that were destroyed in 2014, which later were rebuilt by the Borno State Government. The renewed attacks are coming almost on a daily basis in different ways, resulting in killings, kidnapping, destruction of properties.

In a separate email Yuguda Z. Mdurvwa, who heads up EYNs Disaster Relief Ministry, reported that the EYN Dzur church on the outskirts of Garkida also was burned in the Christmas Eve attack. He added that drugs were looted from the Garkida General Hospital and other stores and food stuffs were looted. In addition to the five people who were killed, many sustained injuries, he wrote, and people slept in the mountains without celebrating Christmas.

Our hope is that Christ was born to save us from all these pains and give us peace, Mdurvwa wrote. Apart from the above insecurity, COVID-19 is surging in the second wave, Nigeria is recording above 1,000 per day. Despite our troubles, God is our comforter and our source of help.

Continue reading here:
EYN churches are attacked, at least 12 people are killed, a pastor/evangelist is among those abducted in violence on the day before and the day after...

Genna Contino|Herald-Journal

Though COVID-19 changed a lot of our original 2020 plans, one thing that continued to shine through the year was development in Spartanburg.

"Spartanburg is exploding, particularly downtown," County Councilman David Britt told the Spartanburg Herald-Journal. "This is the first time in 25 years, you've had apartments being built downtown."

Downtown revitalization: Spartanburg prides itself on a thriving downtown. But how did it get to where it is today?

As we head into 2021, many downtown apartments, multi-use, and government buildings will continue construction or finish up in the new year. Here's the latest on those projects.

1. County courthouse and city/county municipal complex

If you've driven down Daniel Morgan Avenue lately, you've probably seen the bigcrane and progress on the SpartanburgCounty courthouse project. The parking deck and nearby central energy plant will be completed by June 30, 2021, Britt said.

After the courthouse is complete, a new joint city/county municipal building will be built as part of the same project funded by a penny sales tax.

Britt said the courthouse and new municipal complex will be a good"adrenaline spurt for downtown merchants. It'll make it so much more walkable for our associates at the county and in the city. And it will be a big complex."

"The courthouse, when it's complete, it will be as big as the Montgomery Building."

Impact study: Joint Spartanburg courthouse, municipal complex project to bring nearly 2k jobs

2. Liberty Street Apartments

Construction is underway at the Liberty Street Apartments at 215 E. Daniel Morgan Ave. behind the downtown Spartanburg Marriott.

Developer Peter Collins of Tampa, Florida-based Forge Capital Partners said they're about 30 days behind schedule due to COVID-19 related issues and needing to excavate some old city infrastructure they found underground at the site.

"When you get a site as old as that, you know, some of that stuff is bound to happen, but there was quite a bit that we had to deal with there," Collins told the Herald-Journal.

Initial report: 200-unit downtown Spartanburg apartment complex eyes spring 2021 opening

3. Kennedy Street Apartments

In early December, 132 downtown Spartanburg apartments planned for the corner of Kennedy, Union, and Advent streets received preliminary Design Review Board approval in early December.

We can probably expect to see the apartment plans return to the Design Review Board in early 2021 for final approval, as developers are hoping for a late April or early May groundbreaking for the project. The project received mostly positive feedback from the Design Review Board members.

Read more: 132 downtown Spartanburg apartment units receive preliminary Design Review Board approval

4. Northside projects

The Northside Development Group has several projects in the works to keep an eye out for in 2021.

Dive deeper: Here's the latest on Northside Development Group's projects

5. Highland Transformation Plan

The Highland Transformation Plan was approved unanimously by the Spartanburg City Council on Nov. 23. The first project that the Highland Neighborhood will see pre-development of in the first year is the Cammie Claggett project.

"This project is a mixed-use area that creates a transition from SouthDaniel Morgan Avenue into the neighborhood through Highland Avenue," the transformation plan reads. "It will create a welcoming gateway into the community while providing a diversity of housing options for new and existing residents."

Urban renewal: Several Black communities were bulldozed in the '70s. Some want the city to apologize

6. The Danmor

The Danmor is a residential building planned for South Daniel Morgan Avenue that received preliminary approval from the city's Design Review Board in August.

August report: The Danmor moves from mixed-use to all residential

7. Former Mary H. Wright Elementary

The former Mary H. Wright Elementary School received final approval from the city councilfor arezoning and development agreement with Montgomery Development Group to transform the school into 53 apartment units, 11 of the units being workforce housing.

Opponents of the project can point to what happened in the past on the south side as reasons to be wary. In the 1970s, many Black-owned businesses and homes here were razed and lost forever with federal money intended for urban renewal.

But others are excited about the change. The $11 million redevelopment plan would be the largest investment in Spartanburg's south side in more than a decade.

Dive deeper: Addressing fears of gentrification, City Council approves Mary H. Wright apartments

8. Bon Haven apartments

The Bon Haven apartments on Spartanburg's north side are in the framing process and are expected to be completed by late summer of 2021, according to Mark Stuermann,the executive vice president of development at Arlington Properties, the project's developer.

"Were very pleased with the construction schedule," Stuermann told the Spartanburg Herald-Journal in October.

October report: Bon Haven apartments in Spartanburg on track for summer 2021 opening

9. Robert Smalls apartments

Robert Smalls at Midtowne Heights, the townhomes in which Norris Ridge residents are expected to relocate, are set to break ground in 2021.

Site prep work is underway and a groundbreaking event is expected to be planned in March or April of 2021.

The future of Norris Ridge: Robert Smalls townhomes set to break ground soon ahead of Norris Ridge relocation

Have a question about a project?Contact Genna at gcontino@shj.com or on Twitter @GennaContino.

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'Spartanburg is exploding': 9 development projects to keep an eye on in 2021 - Spartanburg Herald Journal

On December 2nd- 8th several threats were received by contract workers on a construction site on Waldrop Church Road, in Louisa VA. Site Managers contacted the Louisa County Sheriffs Office (LCSO) and took appropriate actions to ensure the safety of their employees. Uniformed Officers responded and secured the area surrounding the construction site. After this incident, an in-depth investigation by the LCSO Criminal Investigation Division was begun, and a person of interest was developed. Interviews were conducted and evidence collected that led to the arrest of Eric Hardy, Sr., who was picked up without incident by the US Marshalls in Americus, GA at approximately 7:00 PM, on December 10th, 2020. Eric Hardy, Sr., is currently being held at Sumter County Jail awaiting extradition back to Virginia. LCSO would also like to thank the Virginia State Police, Sumter Sheriffs Office, and the US Marshalls for their assistance in helping bring this to a safe and speedy conclusion.

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Georgia man arrested for making bomb threats against workers at Louisa County construction site - WVIR

LONDON (AP) Britains government is in talks with French firm EDF Energy over the construction of a 20 billion-pound ($26.8 billion) nuclear power plant in eastern England.

Officials said Monday that negotiations are taking place over the Sizewell C site in Suffolk, which could generate 3.2 gigawatts of electricity enough to provide 7% of the countrys energy demands.

Any deal would need to be approved on areas such as value for money and affordability, and Business Secretary Alok Sharma said the talks with EDF are not a green light for construction to begin.

What we will be doing is looking to see whether we can reach an investment decision in this Parliament on that particular project, he told the BBC. We will only do so if this delivers value for money for taxpayers and consumers.

EDF says its eight existing nuclear power stations in the U.K. generate around a fifth of the countrys electricity.

The statement confirming the talks came as the government outlined its plans to cut emissions and expand clean energy. Officials say that, in total, the plans will support 220,000 jobs in the next decade.

Todays plan establishes a decisive and permanent shift away from our dependence on fossil fuels, towards cleaner energy sources that will put our country at the forefront of the global green industrial revolution, Sharma said.

The document outlines plans to develop offshore wind turbines, accelerate the rollout of electric vehicle charging points, improve energy efficiency in homes and move away from fossil fuel boilers.

Link:
UK in talks with EDF over nuclear plant construction - Associated Press

Matt Soergel|Florida Times-Union

The year 2020 has been a disaster in most of the world, so it's easy, perhaps understandable, to see why many Floridians have moved on from a close-to-home catastrophefrom the year before the global pandemic.

But, say a couple of 29-year-olds, don't forget Hurricane Dorian and the incredible damage it inflicted on parts of the Bahamas in September 2019.

There's still an overwhelmingneed there, said Danny Moroney, who leads Hope Fleet (hopefleet.org),a young nonprofit Christian relief group, based in Sarasota,that'strying to keep attention on the Bahamas.

The Bahamas have been forgotten, he said. As a place thats normally deemed paradise, this has been their toughest year. And people [elsewhere] had already moved on to the next thing, then: coronavirus.

Though slowed by the pandemic, Hope Fleet has been using its own sailboat and the boats of other volunteers headed to the Bahamas to take supplies to the islands, with a focus on rebuilding and helping children.

Photos: Scenes of Dorian devastation in Bahamas

Moroney's group found an early supporter in Kenny Roberts, pastor of a small Jacksonville church, whowas born and raised in the Bahamaswhere his family goes back generations. He has family and friends who almost died in Dorian, and who told him that for days after there were still bodies strewn about in the rubble.

"Life kind of moves on for everybody else, but not to those affected," Roberts said. "Talking to family members and friends who live there, its going to be many years before things get back to normal.

Dorian was the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Bahamas, aslow-moving storm that mowed through the island nation in early September,bringing 185-mph Category 5 winds and a massive storm surge to Great Abaco and Grand Bahama islands.

The official death toll in the Bahamas was 74, though more than 200 people went missing. Thousands of buildings were destroyed and many people were left homeless.

Roberts grew up on the tiny island of Spanish Wells, 2 miles long, half a mile wide, just off the coast of Eleuthera. Surrounded by reefs, it survived Dorian fairly well.

Roberts'father was a lobster fisherman, like many of the men there, and as a young teen he would join him on the water when school was out.

Hes lost his Bahamian accent, though it comes back easily on telephone calls or visits back home. Growing up on Spanish Wells was often idyllic: It was like a small, fairly well-off town, he says, a place of unlocked doors surrounded by water, where everyone knew everyone else.

You grow up with no real needs, in a beautiful place, Roberts said.

There was not a wide range of opportunities there though, so at 16 he came to Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville. That's where he met his wife, Jenna, who had grown up on the Westside.

In January 2019, Roberts became pastor at 150-member MissionWay Church on Old St. Augustine Road, south of Interstate 295. It's website ismissionwaychurch.org.

Our church is smaller and we dont have a ton of resources, he said. We're not even one of Hope Fleet's biggest supporters because we dont have the means to be, but our heart is there: How can we help?

Great need: Tourism economy gutted

MissionWay has sent donations, including some to make sure Hope Fleets sailboat got needed repairs for its first relief voyage. Its also collected supplies and sent money so families with very little would have food and gifts for Christmas.

If things get back to normal, Roberts said, he would like to send church members over on the sailboat, people who could work construction and teach Bible classes to children.

The need is great: The Bahamas tourism-based economy was gutted by the storm, and then came the coronavirus, which hit a country whose government, he said, was ill-prepared to handle it.

On the hardest-hit islands, though, the pandemic isnt the biggest problem.

In Abaco, COVID is barely even a blip on the radar of these people,because everything else in their lives is more urgent and significant right now, Roberts said. Thats not to downplay COVID or its effects, just to emphasize how difficult things are there now.

Hope Fleet's Moroney said it's frustrating not being able to make a significant dent in the massiveneed in the Bahamas. But it's still worth trying.

He reached out to MissionWay as soon as the hurricane passed. They were the first church, he said, to donate to his group.

Since then hes found other willing helpers, even though coronavirus-related travel restrictions kept travelers from the Bahamas until recently.

At age 15, Moroney began workingto bring supplies to childrens homes and orphanages in Jamaica, where his mother is from. He was motivated by his trips there, seeing deep poverty right next to beautiful resorts.

Hope Fleet became a nonprofit in March 2019 and was gearing up to bring aid to Cuba when Dorian hit the Bahamas. Their efforts quickly shifted.

Key to their work is the Shooting Star, an older 40-foot sailboat they boughtat a significant discountfor $10,000.

They load it at Pompano Beach and sail it, with little to no gas needed, to Freeport, where many hurricane evacuees have settled. Theyve focused their work there.

Lets do one thing really well rather than a bunch of little things not too well, Moroney said.

The group enlists other boaters who are headed that way, loading them with supplies as well. Boaters really want to help; they just dont have the time to vet different organizations, to find supplies, he said.

For example, Hope Fleet once got a call from a 156-foot yacht that was ready to go, ready to help. They loaded it with donated mattresses and bedding, and it sailed east.

There's still far more that needs to be done, but that effort was a success.

A family there told us, For the first time in months our babies arent sleeping on the ground, Moroney said. All of its worth it for that one family, who now has something to put their heads on.

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Jacksonville church and Sarasota nonprofit: Don't forget the need in the Bahamas - The Florida Times-Union

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GRANITE FALLS, NC (December 16, 2020) Jessie Odell Bowman was born on December 28th, 1919 to Cordia Brown Bowman and Earl H Bowman in the Bethlehem community in Alexander County. Jessie was born to deaf parents and had to work at an early age to help with the financial burden of raising four children during the depression. Jessie earned $30.00 per month in the C.C. Camp where he land mapped 4 counties. Jessie served for 2 years and sent most of his money to his family.

In 1940, Jessie met Sadie Jane Clark on the railroad tracks in Sawmills and they were married 5 months later on February 22, 1941. They eventually bought a home on Dudley Ave in Granite Falls for $800. On December 5th, 1943, their first child, Nancy Sandra Bowman was born.

Jessie was drafted into the Army serving with the 87th Infantry Division in Europe during World War II. His main job was a mortar operator and marched in front of the troops to clear the way. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge; walked across France; and he was in Plauen Germany when the war ended. In 2013, the Ambassador of France presented Jessie the French Medal of Honor, in Raleigh, NC. The Governor of North Carolina, Pat McCrory, attended the ceremony and spoke to the honorees and thanked them for their service. That was one of Jessies most cherished medals.

Jessie decided to become a barber and attended Barber College in Winston Salem in 1945 and worked for Astor Peelers Barber Shop. In 1948, they decided to move to Bluefield, West Virginia to work as a foreman of a strip mine for Blythe Brothers Construction Co. While living in West Virginia, Sadie became pregnant with their second child, Deborah Anne Bowman, born on February 28th, 1950. They stayed in West Virginia until 1952.

When the family moved back to Granite Falls, Jessie bought and operated Central Barber Shop, where he worked full time until he retired from barbering. The barber shop was a busy, thriving business, where they offered a large walk-in type shower for 25 cents. In 1952, the price of a hair cut was 50 cents for children under 12 and 75 cents for older children and adults. Shaves were 50 cents and about 10% of the older men wanted shaves because they did not have hot water in their homes. When haircuts reached $1.25, Jessie had to buy a new cash register as the old register would only ring up $1.00.

Dale and Lisa Clark joined the Bowman family in 1971, as a result of Sadies brother passing away. The courts were going to place the two young children in an orphanage and Sadie could not stand the thought of this happening. They both lived with the Bowman family until they graduated from high school. Lisa was legally adopted and became the youngest Bowman daughter.

In 1970, Reverend Claude Dick, at the First Baptist Church in Granite Falls, urged Jessie to start a deaf ministry. Jessie accepted the calling and worked part-time at the barber shop until he sold it in 1986. Jessie resigned as the Minister of the Deaf at the First Baptist Church and began pursuing getting the deaf their own church. In 1986, he founded and organized the First Baptist Church for Deaf, a mission church sponsored by Winklers Grove Baptist Church and Mountain View Baptist Church. In 1989, with much monetary support and free labor from many different organizations, churches and individuals, Jessies dream became a reality and his deaf congregation had their own church located on Airport Road in Hickory. This was the first deaf church in North Carolina and soon the church membership grew to over 100.

Jessie traveled to Sorocaba Brazil in 1990, and started a much needed deaf ministry, as well as helping to build a chapel at an orphanage. Then in 1992, Jessie returned to Sorocaba for a revival, preaching at many different churches. Because of his unfailing love for his fellow human beings and all his charitable acts of kindness, he touched so many deaf and hearing lives, Jessie was nominated and won the 1993 Jefferson Award. This award is given by WBTV in Charlotte for outstanding community service.

Jessie retired from the ministry several times; God was not done with him because there was still work to be done. He served as interim pastor to the First Baptist in Morganton and several times at the deaf church in Hickory.

Without the support and love from his wife, Sadie, Jessie stated that he could never have had the success in business and especially in the deaf ministry. In 1995, during open heart surgery, Sadie had a stroke and was paralyzed and unable to speak. Sadie remained at home until her death in January, 2007 and they were married for 66 years.

Nancy Bowman, Deborah & Art Dlugos and Lisa & Mark Lowman all reside in Grace Chapel. Jessie has two grandchildren, Chastan Dlugos Shields & Willie Matthew Starnes along with four great grandchildren, Carson, Baileigh, Grace Shields and Willie Gabriel Starnes.

Jessie remained in his home until he passed with his daughters by his side, Sunday December 13th, 2020. Oh what a great man he was!

We will be receiving family and friends Saturday, December 19th, 1-3pm at the First Baptist Church Granite Falls Life Center. His funeral service will be Sunday at 1:00pm at the First Baptist Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Caldwell County Hospice and Palliative Care, 902 Kirkwood St., Lenoir, NC 28645, First Baptist Church, Granite Falls, 12 Crestview St., Granite Falls, NC and or Campaign for the National Museum of the U.S. Army, P.O. Box 96281, Washington, DC, 20090-6281.

Bass-Smith Funeral Home is serving the family.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Jessie Odell Bowman please visit the Bass-Smith Funeral Home Tribute Store.

To visit Jessies obituary on the Bass-Smith Funeral Home website click here.

Obituary written by the family.

Jessie Bowman smiling in the above photo taken during World War II. (click on photo to view a larger image)

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Jessie Bowman, WWII Veteran, member of the Greatest Generation, longtime barber and beloved father, passes away - Caldwell Journal

Crews are expected back on site by the end of the month, Evans said.

Construction started in 2018 and was scheduled to be done in January, 2020, according to BC Housing.

Construction was halted months ago due to what Evans alleged were challenges with the prior builder JBR Construction.

I cant really go into the details, because its before the courts. We terminated because of a default, Evans said.

Theres currently more than $3.2 million in liens against the property and a pair of civil lawsuits launched against JBR Construction from their subcontractors.

BC Housing confirmed the United Church is borrowing $32.5 million from its loan facility to finish the project, which is an estimated 60 per cent complete.

Evans said both primary construction contracts for the revamped Brechin United Church site were awarded following a mandated bidding process to access BC Housing loans.

Its been a major disruption for us, we certainly didnt want the building sitting for this long period, but we managed to work through this with BC Housing.

The affordable housing development at the Brechin United Church site is geared toward people with average incomes ranging between $50,000 and $100,000.

ian@nanamonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes

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Work to finally resume at large affordable housing project on Nanaimo's Brechin United Church property - Nanaimo News NOW